The delight of seeing the swallows have returned

My car was finally fixed this morning after some sterling work by the Green Garage, although I'm dreading hearing what it will have cost. But it means the we can get around again and it is now driving very well. The garage delivered it back to me at 11am and then I had to take the driver back up to Bisley. I took the opportunity of visiting the farm shop for all their wonderful fresh vegetables and met Ashley, the farmer and all his family and had fun chats. 

When I returned to the car with a young courgette plant as well as the vegetables I saw a swallow swooping over one of the barns and asked Ashley if I could take some pictures. He kindly said yes, as he always does to be honest, and then walked me into the barn to show me where the swallows have been nesting.  I only saw two birds but I know there will be countless others arriving from Africa in the next few weeks.

I then went to stand in the shadows of a stable wall and waited.  At the rear of the barn you can't hear any of the people shopping or their car movements so it was really peaceful.  I felt very alive and so pleased to see the swallows swooping around  in between visits to the barn interior. I was quite close to a muddy pond in the yard and as Ashley predicted I saw the swallows swooping down over the water to pick up mud for their nests.  I have added a couple of shots of that activity to the 'Extra photos'.

But unusually they also landed on some power lines behind the barn where they were even joined by some sparrows. I got a better picture of them seeming to display to each other, probably prior to mating, so I have blipped one of those scenes.  I hope to come back with a tripod and get the lighting right for filming them at the pond again from close range. I think I must turn my attention to my idea of a project around their farm and talk to ashley about that. Over the years I have got a wide variety of scenes of farm life, but there are quite a few I haven't yet covered. It will give me something to do!